Battle of Ramadi

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Battle of Ramadi

Part of Mesopotamian Campaign
(World War I)

Date	September 28–29, 1917
Location	Ramadi, west of Baghdad, present-day Iraq
Result	British victory

Combatants

British Empire

Ottoman Empire

Commanders

Frederick Stanley Maude

Strength

One division

5,000

Casualties

Mesopotamian Campaign
Fao Landing – Basra – Qurna – Es Sinn – Ctesiphon – Umm-at-Tubal –1st Kut –Shiekh Sa'ad – Wadi – Hanna – Dujaila – 2nd Kut – Baghdad – Samarrah Offensive – Jebel Hamlin – Istabulat – Ramadi – Sharqat

The Battle of Ramadi was fought in central Iraq late in September 1917 between the British and the Ottomans; it was part of the Mesopotamian Campaign in World War I.

A British division was sent to the town of Ramadi, about 100 kilometers (60 miles) west of Baghdad on the Euphrates River, where an important Ottoman garrison was quartered. A defeat of that garrison would allow the British further advance along the river.

The attack began on September 28, 1917, on the East Bank of the Euphrates. Although the Ottomans expected an enemy assault, the British made ample use of armored cars, which the defenders of the town were not ready to fight against, and the Ottoman garrison was quickly outflanked and surrounded. After a nocturnal escape attempt was thwarted by the British cavalry, the Ottoman forces surrendered in the morning of September 29.

The British maneuver had been especially effective, and Ramadi was conquered quickly and with fewer-than-usual casualties.